Curb Shopping - Bringing Home the Goods

In todays throw away world, one can easily furnish a house! Look carefully as you drive down your neighborhood streets on trash collection day. Mounds of discarded household items are set out to the curb, heading to our landfills. Most of this unwanted clutter can become a free source of practical solutions for the cash strapped homeowner. Often a side table with a wobbly leg will become a nuisance for the owner forcing him to trash it. With some handy work and some simple tools you can mend the problem, only to add this free table to your home. Garbage picking has evolved for many into a full time job. With the term curb shopping portraying a more accepted vision, it's still garbage picking to most.

At the on set, be sure curb shopping is legal in your town by checking with your local ordinance laws. In some areas it is prohibited. Always keep safety in mind when loading your finds. Wear gloves and don't block the flow of traffic. Common sense is priceless. Look for useable items that need minor repair or that may be used in a whole new different way than their intended use. Broken down chairs make great plant stands or wall shelves, children's toys can become an attractive garden accent.

Picture a child size wheel barrow parked in your veggie garden loaded with your trimmings or a sad and crumbled mail box perched in your garden to hold the tools of the trade. Many fencing parts and odd boards have risen to new beginnings with a splash of imagination. Bed springs turn into beautiful trellises and old taddered windows with layers of peeling paint find another life as picture frames and glass on glass mosaic art. Bed head and foot boards turn into cozy benches for outdoor living space or in a homested nook. Non working lamps can be fashioned into bird baths or towel racks in the bath. Dresser drawers can make storage under the bed a piece of cake. Look for hardware on old doors, like glass door knobs and unique hinges and lock sets. All wood doors can be created into tables or wall art. Some paint and your vision is all you need to save many items kicked to the curb. Only you can fit your curb treasures to your needs.

Get out there on garbage day and see what you can breath new life into, feel the joy of saving a piece of junk from the jaws of death. Help save the planet and feel the excitement of renewing man made products. Just be sure you can reuse the item you drag home and also note that you have been warned, as curb shopping is very addicting.